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Vulnerable votes
As the November elections draw closer, candidates and issues are
clamoring for our vote from our newspapers, from our televisions, and
from the signboards on our local street corners. As an Oregonian, I
used to smugly assume that this vote, MY vote that I securely marked
on paper in my own home, was absolutely safe from the computer errors
and computer “manipulations” that plague states like Ohio, Florida,
and California. Election fraud couldn’t possibly happen in Oregon, I
thought.
So I was shocked this summer when I read an article on the “vulnerable
Oregon election system” and learned that our paper ballots are read
(scanned) by the same machine that has failed in 33 counties around
the country in major elections. I was even more appalled when I
learned from the Wasco county clerk that in Oregon the machine results
are in only special cases verified against the paper ballots.
What’s the point of having a paper trail if you’re not going to check
it against what the machine says? Our government has spent a lot of
money trying to make us feel more secure. Is it not important to make
our votes secure?
Our vote is the only real voice some of us have in this country.
Without a secure vote, democracy is dead. We must demand of our county
clerks an automatic, mandatory verification process: We, the voters,
demand proof that our paper ballots are read, and are read accurately.
Kathleen Fitzpatrick
Mosier
9-11 crowd small
What a wonderful tribute to the fallen firemen and police officers
during the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001, that was held Sept.
11 at the Expo Center.
The stories that were told by all the speakers brought the tragedy
to life once again and further embedded that horrible act of hate
that happened five years ago. It is an act of hatred that will
never be forgotten.
The stories also made me realize how our emergency responders and
police officers put their lives on the line without regard to what
the consequences might be. They do not stop and think am I going
to die if I help, they simply help because that is what their job
entails. They do not have to choose that profession and it takes a
special type of person to be able to perform that job.
The only thing that was missing from the ceremony was the
community of Hood River County. There were quite a few people
there, but nowhere near what I would have expected. I asked myself
why the people of Hood River did not want to come and pay tribute
not only to the fallen heroes of that tragic day, but to thank
those serving us in this valley?
I want to thank every emergency responder and police officer from
the west to the east and from the north to the south, and a
special thank-you to those in this county for keeping us safe
without regards to what might happen to yourself, and helping us
in our times of need.
Wendy Herman
Hood River
Clean-up kudos
First of all, I want to thank Skamania Parks and Recreation for
supplying trash bags, some parking passes and for disposal of the
filled litter bags. Thanks also to the Little White Salmon
hatchery for picking up the filled trash bags and tires that we
picked up along the shores of Drano Lake in Washington state. I
organized a litter pickup at Drano Lake on Sept. 3 over Labor Day
weekend. I was joined by five other members of my sea–kayaking
club of Portland: “Oregon Ocean Paddling Society.”
I saw a need for a cleanup when I paddled at Drano for the first
time last March. In a windy environment, I would imagine that some
of the litter is accidental. However, we picked up hundreds of
plastic bags of all kinds, hat brims, bits of Styrofoam, eight or
nine tires, a car axle, hundreds of Styrofoam bait cups! Plastic
shot-gun casings, blue tarps, candy and food wrappers, cans; and
we weren’t even able to cover the whole shore line.
I was even more appalled and just plain disgusted at the amount of
litter and waste back at the boat ramp. The dumpster was
overflowing with trash, plastic bottles, and beer cans from just
one day of fishing.
Please, reduce, reuse and recycle, and don’t litter! We only have
one beautiful Columbia Gorge and Pacific Northwest. Please be good
stewards and leave your favorite fishing hole better-looking than
you found it!
Teresa Webb
Parkdale
Voting for VanOrman
The political season is just beginning for those of us who will
take the time to research the candidates and exercise our
privilege to vote this coming November. I have already done so,
and come to the conclusion that when it comes to selecting a
person for our House of Representatives, that candidate is Suzanne
VanOrman.
Suzanne VanOrman has demonstrated her effectiveness in getting
through the bureaucratic nightmare that is foisted on Head Start
nationwide. Taking our local Head Start from serving less than 100
children to almost 500, getting low-income parents to understand
they can make good decisions on health care measures, and putting
some 100 local individuals to work in the Head Start program
certainly demonstrates VanOrman’s ability to cut to the chase and
get results.
Instead of voicing her concerns for education, or that she is in
favor of making sure that our kids have a fair chance at success,
Suzanne VanOrman comes through with proof. Our local Head Start
program has been recognized for excellence, and Suzanne has been
chiefly responsible as its director.
Words are cheap, but when it comes to showing that you are truly
made of, I prefer to see something quantifiable. VanOrman has
demonstrated that I can rest assured that she will be responsible
representative for us, not one who uses words and then does either
the opposite or nothing. Join me in voting for Suzanne VanOrman
this election season.
Lori King
Hood River
‘Faulty Intelligence’
My heart goes out to the family of your Hood River soldier killed
in Iraq as well as all other families suffering tragic losses.
While on the AIDS walk last fall I cornered our Congressman Greg
Walden and asked him some questions that were bothering me, like,
lack of funding for our forests (but plenty of money for Iraq)
holding prisoners in Guantanamo indefinitely without due process
to any court system, and then I hit on the war in Iraq; Why are we
there since we now know that all the weapons of mass destruction
were fabricated up by the Bush administration?
Well, Greg says to me, “Faulty intelligence.” So I’m thinking
faulty intelligence, if we can start a war (that over 2,600 youth
U.S. men and women have been killed in) on Faulty Intelligence,
then why, why in the world can’t we end this futile war with the
Correct Information? Why be stupid about this; why continue to
kill innocent people on both sides? Let’s fix the water systems
the electrical systems and the hospitals that we bombed and blew
up, and get out. And stop the ridiculous loss of lives!
A child killed over there is the same as a child killed over here.
And a young woman raped over there is the same as a young woman
raped over here.
I encourage everyone to get out and walk a few miles and support
the AIDS walk on Sunday, Sept. 24, at the Hood River side of the
Old Scenic Highway walk-bike trail.
Peace.
Stephen J. Curley
Hood River
Seeing the forests
The letter titled “Who is destructive?” in The Sept. 9 Hood River
News is a perfect example of the divisive attitude and spirit
commonly found in our present-day culture. The approach is to find
the imperfect, personalize it, then beat it with unfounded facts.
The result is an escalation of the problem that does not give
reality to a clear-headed solution.
The so-called “destructive rapes of forestland” is a wrong
perspective. The Oregon Forest Practice Act covers all private,
county and state land. The Act does not allow “a 10-square mile
area” (twice the size of the Hood River County forest) to be cut.
Also, all clear-cuts are required to have viable reforestation
within a two-to-five-year period. Replanting has nothing to do
with the logging operator and everything to do with the landowner.
Economic hardship is not a consideration as to whether
reforestation is completed or not.
In Hood River County a prevalent viewpoint held by the uninformed
is that any land with trees growing on it becomes “our forest.”
Please remember that private forest land owners do have, under the
Oregon Forest Practice Act, the right to manage their holdings for
timber production as well as other uses which could include
allowing public recreation.
Stewardship of forest lands is a huge task and will always include
the definable limits of man. Therefore the goal to achieve the
best results should be taken from the wisdom of old: “you shall
know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
David Winans
Hood River
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